FanDuel has promoted former chief legal officer Christian Genetski to the role of president and former CMO Mike Raffensperger to the newly created role of chief commercial officer, effective immediately.

The Flutter Entertainment-owned brand said that the appointments would help provide long-term leadership continuity to the business, while recognising the duo’s longstanding contributions to the success of the business to date.

In his new role as president, Genetski will oversee all of FanDuel’s business development, partnership, corporate strategy, and government affairs units, in addition to driving the firm’s vision and execution of strategic partnerships and new business initiatives.

In his former role as CLO, Genetski worked with legislators, regulators and industry figures to help influence the development of the regulated North American online sports betting and iGaming market and helped to secure FanDuel’s leading position within it.

FanDuel said Genetski has played a critical role in the development of daily fantasy sports, sports betting and iGaming markets across the US. 

FanDuel CCO Mike Raffensperger: “[I feel] humbled at the opportunity to lead this incredible company and hungry that the best is yet to come for the far and away #1 online gaming company in America.”

Notably, he brokered an agreement with the New York State Attorney General that paved the way for New York to legalise and regulate DFS along with more than 20 additional states, FanDuel said. 

It was also his work that helped build a bridge for the company’s entry into sports betting and iGaming following the repeal of PASPA by the United States Supreme Court in 2018, the firm added.

Former CMO Raffensperger, meanwhile, will oversee revenue generation across FanDuel’s sportsbook, casino, racing, daily fantasy and free-to-play platforms in his new role as CCO.

The position sees Raffensperger take on an expanded role including commercial leadership, a responsibility previously overseen by CEO Amy Howe.

Raffensperger will also continue to steer FanDuel’s marketing unit, while assuming oversight for the brand’s content and programming assets, including its broadly distributed cable network TVG.

FanDuel said that during his tenure as CMO, Raffensperger’s leadership had helped fuel the explosive growth and market share dominance the brand enjoys today. 

In a post shared on LinkedIn, Raffensperger said: “One of my favourite cultural principles at FanDuel is the idea that we want to stay Humble & Hungry – and that is exactly how I feel taking on this new role. Humbled at the opportunity to lead this incredible company and hungry that the best is yet to come for the far and away #1 online gaming company in America.”

Both executives will continue to report directly into FanDuel CEO Howe. She said: “It cannot be overstated how seminal both Christian and Mike have been to not only the success of FanDuel, but to the industry more broadly.

“Each has helped nurture and evolve FanDuel from innovative upstart to the dominant market leader in sports betting and iGaming. I am delighted to expand their roles as we continue into the future.

FanDuel CEO Amy Howe: “It cannot be overstated how seminal both Christian and Mike have been to not only the success of FanDuel, but to the industry more broadly.”

“Keeping Christian’s deep institutional knowledge within FanDuel was critically important to me. In his expanded role, Christian’s expert voice will impact decisions that are vital to creating a sustainable long-term business, while providing critical continuity for FanDuel to thrive in the future. 

“Similarly, Mike’s leadership of our revenue producing commercial units and marketing is a structure we believe best positions us for growth and reflects how important his performance has been to our success,” Howe concluded.

Recent data from across the US online gambling market laid out the extent to which FanDuel has carved out a dominant market position in recent years.

According to the June edition of Eilers & Krejcik Gaming’s US Sports Betting Market Monitor, FanDuel accounted for more than half of all nationwide online sports betting GGR in the month of April at 53%.

That means the brand generated more revenue than the other 54 online sports betting brands that are currently active in the US, combined.

FanDuel owner

Kambi has promoted Cecilia Wachtmeister to the position of chief commercial officer, where she will head up a new-look commercial team.

Wachtmeister steps up from her previous position as EVP of business and group functions for the sports betting supplier, a role she assumed in 2019 upon joining the Kambi’s executive team. Prior to that, Wachtmeister also served on Kambi’s board between 2017 and 2019.

Before joining Kambi, Wachtmeister’s career spanned 25 years at telecommunications giant Ericsson AB, where she held a number of senior management roles across functions including business development, sales and strategy.

In her new position, Kambi said Wachtmeister will lead a strengthened commercial team, to which Sarah Robertson, Jamie McKittrick and Veena Dhesi have also been promoted to the positions of SVP sales, SVP commercial operations and SVP partner success, respectively.

Kambi CCO Cecilia Wachtmeister: “Even though we are on a steep growth trajectory, we’ve barely scratched the surface of what is possible.”

Dhesi is the latest addition to Kambi’s senior commercial team, after joining in 2021 from corporate research and advisory firm Gartner, where a tenure lasting more than eight years saw her rise to the position of director of sales growth programmes.

Robertson also carries more than a decade of industry experience, while McKittrick has worked in sports betting for more than 20 years, joining Kambi from his previous role as Entain’s head of commercial in 2021.

Commenting on the reshuffle, Wachtmeister said: “With a market-leading product and partner-first focus, it’s no surprise Kambi has enjoyed great success in recent years.

“Even though we are on a steep growth trajectory, we’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s possible, which is why I’m looking forward to working with my talented commercial team to ensure Kambi can capitalise on the many exciting opportunities that lay ahead.

“It has already been a busy start to the year with the signings of MaximBet and NorthStar Gaming and I am confident we have the right team and product in place to build on this success in 2022 and beyond,” she added. 

Kambi inked a multi-year sportsbook deal with MaximBet in January, before striking an additional long-term partnership with Canadian operator NorthStar Gaming in February.